Kurt Elling Quotes
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Sometimes, with vocalese, I'm dealing with something, a great solo from the past, which is so iconic I can't presume to change it or mess with it.
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I've tried to educate myself in the world and what's beautiful and what has meaning and is lasting. Then I just follow my intuition and see how it fits.
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Grammy nominations are certainly pleasant, but you can forget about them and lead a perfectly happy life - provided you have the approval of the musicians you work with.
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As improvisers, we're acting as composers in front of people.
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I'm one of the culprits who keeps turning stuff around, shaking up original tunes and trying to stand the canon on its ear. But sometimes, you just need to sing the song.
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It's pretty rare in jazz to have a full-on steady band.
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Chicago has a burly, action-oriented but still self-assured and relaxed confidence to its stride. The city has a lot of wide-open space and all the possibilities that suggests. There's a lot of horizontal grandeur here.
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I try to sleep as much as I can. I drink a lot of water. I practice consistently and just try to be ready for the gig.
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I've worked with a number of big bands, but there's nothing in life like the Basie band.
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I didn't arrive on the scene until after Jaco Pastorius had passed, but 'Three Views of a Secret' is a long-time favourite of mine.
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I'm thrilled when I hear the greatest jazz musicians. They continue to search in ways other musicians do not.
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There's a wide spectrum of possibilities in how to deliver a song.
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You want to be doing your best work whatever field of the arts you're in because your life's going to be over all too soon, and you have to make the most of it.
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Every record is a gate of a certain kind for me.
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I haven't been afraid of John Coltrane or Miles Davis or Bill Evans or Wayne Shorter or Herbie Hancock. Why would I be afraid of the Beatles?
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Salacious? I suppose every once in a while the salacious thing is not a bad thing. It's kind of monochromatic if that's all you do.
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I know how hard it's been for me to get my thing out there.
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The great jazz and jazz-influenced singers carry themselves with a certain panache and a certain elegance and, for lack of a better word, self-confidence.
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Karl Johnson, my first piano player at Milt Trenier's, he just swung really hard and gave me a sense of really belonging to the jazz scene.
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Each of the CDs prior to 'Flirting With Twilight' were more like roller-coaster rides.
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Part of my joy as a singer is to give gifts to people, and one way I try to connect to them is to add something in French or German or whatever.
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Why limit yourself to one discipline or field of study?
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There's a spiritual complement to any attempt at transposing a commitment to humanity through music or art.
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I was very lucky that more experienced musicians allowed me to caterwaul until I figured out what it was really about.